Day: May 31, 2020

Testing of Obedience (May 28)

Backgrounder on Genesis 21-24:
The climax of more than 20 faith-
stretching years for Abraham and
Sarah comes in the birth of Isaac.
But soon Abraham’s faith is tested
again as God calls him to sacrifice
that treasured son upon an altar.
Abraham obeys, showing that the
experiences of the past 2 decades
have not been in vain. For His
faithfulness to the point of death,
God rewards Abraham with
further assurances of blessing.

Lord, we are willing to Obey:
Some time later God tested Abraham.
He said to him: Abraham! ‘Here I am,
he replied. Then God said:Take your
son, your only son, Isaac, whom
you love & go to Moriah. Sacrifice
Him there as a burnt offering on one
of the mountains I will tell you about.
Early the next morning Abraham got
up & saddled His donkey (Gen22:1-3)
Then (Abraham) tied his son Isaac
and laid him on the altar… And
Abraham picked up the knife to
kill his son as a sacrifice.At that
moment the angel of the Lord called:
Don’t lay a hand on the boy!… for
now I know that you truly fear God.
You have not withheld from me even
your son… Then Abraham look up
and saw a ram… He took the ram
and sacrificed it as a burnt offering
in place of his son (Gen 22:10-13).

Lord, how my life will change
when I say “Here I am” I can’t know
for sure. It might require laying down
a dream that I long held tightly;
but the cost will pale in comparison
to the blessing. For You are good,
You work things for good; and
You’re the one I can put my trust
since it is also well within Your will.
So I present myself to You as an
offering to You: to be moved and
activated by Your voice. Here I am
while I am yielded and still. Amen.

Lord, realise that Abraham saw
Your willingness and ability to keep
promises even if it took a miracle.
Know that You wanted Abraham
to sacrifice Isaac in his heart so that
he learn to trust God completely.
Lord, obeying You may often be
quite a struggle for it may mean
giving up something we truly want;
but U refine us thro circumstances.
Help us Lord when tested that we
will not complain but instead we
will trust and obey You Lord. Amen.

Lord, I know You always ask me
to surrender everything to You –
including the dream in my heart.
And even when that dream is from
You. You will ask me to let go of
my hold on it. So I surrender every
dream in my heart over to You.
I don’t want to cling to something
You will not bless, or give up on
something that is Your will for
my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Seek God’s Grace & Mercy (May31)

The final century of Judah’s national
history reads like a bad dream.
After Manasseh’s 55-year reign of
terror and apostasy, even a godly
reformer like Josiah is powerless
to prick the hearts of the people,
though for a time he is able to stem
the external appearances of evil.
But after his death the nation swiftly
returns to its abominable ways.
Oppressed and finally overthrown
by the Babylonians, the people of
Judah are slaughtered, their homes
and temple destroyed, their city
walls levelled and the survivors
dragged to Babylon for 70 years.
But in the midst of this doom and
destruction shines a ray of hope.
Cyrus king of Persia, issues a decree
to rebuild the house of the Lord.

For Jews, Jerusalem represented
their place of greatest failure.
To stare at the rubble of what was
once mighty Jerusalem, with its
shattered temple and broken walls
must have saddened God’s people.
They had failed God; gone their own
sinful ways and had been punished.
Now through Cyrus, God was calling
His people back to the scene of the
crime, back for a second chance.
Have you failed God in recent days?
God is calling u back to repentance.
Lord, we Seek Your Grace & Mercy;
Lord, we Seek Your Holiness and
Lord, we Seek Your Compassion.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Lord, we’ll Seek Your Grace & Mercy:
Manasseh led the people of Judah
to do more evil than the pagan
nations whom the Lord destroyed.
So the Lord sent the Assyrian armies
and they took Manasseh prisoner.
They put a ring through his nose,
bound him in chains and led him
away to Babylon. While in deep
distress, Manasseh sought the
Lord and cried out humbly to Him.
And when he prayed, the Lord
listened and was moved by his
request for help. So the Lord let
Manasseh return to Jerusalem and
to his kingdom (2Chron 33:9-13).
Lord, how amazing Your grace,
forgiveness and restoration are.
We praise You for Your mercy and
loving-kindness offered so freely.
We want to follow You, but
when we stray from Your paths,
help us to humbly cry out to You.
And let us know the joy of Your
forgiveness and healing. Amen.

Lord, we’ll Seek Your Holiness:
Josiah was eight years old when he
became king & he reigned 32 years.
He did what was pleasing in the
Lord’s sight… He did not turn away
from doing what was right. During
the eighth year of his reign, Josiah
began to seek the God of David.
Then in the twelfth year he began
to purify Judah and Jerusalem,
destroying all the pagan shrines,
the Asherah poles and the carved
idols and cast images. He ordered
the altars of Baal be demolished…
So, he purified Judah (2Chr 34:1-5).
Lord, help us to be like Josiah who
showed greater wisdom than many
other kings who came before him,
because he decided to seek You
God and Your wisdom. We also
realise from passage that You can
use anyone from any age to make a
difference so long as we are willing
to listen and obey Your word. Amen.

Lord, we’ll Seek Your Compassion:
All the leaders of the priests and
the people became more and more
unfaithful. They followed all the
pagan practices of the surrounding
nations, desecrating the Temple of
the Lord that had been consecrated
in Jerusalem. The Lord repeatedly
sent His prophets to warm them,
for He had compassion on His
people… But the people mocked
these messengers of God & despised
their words. They scoffed at the
prophets until the Lord’s anger could
no longer be restrained and nothing
could be done (2Chron 36:14-16).
Lord, You are a relentless Father,
pursuing us in love relationship.
Help us to pursue You in response,
while modelling Your kind of
faithfulness, Your kind of persistence
and Your kind of compassion. Amen.